


Read The Receipt

by hhhhhhhappycow



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto and Akaashi are married, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Some minor Kagehina, but it's only mentioned briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27086608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhhhhhhappycow/pseuds/hhhhhhhappycow
Summary: “I think we’re done here, thank you, Osamu. If we could just have the bill?”As though waiting for those words, Osamu removed a small square of paper from his pocket.And leaned over to slam the paper down on the table in front of Sakusa. “You’re paying tonight.”“What?”, Atsumu squawked, his eyebrows traveling further up his forehead. “Why?”“He knows why.”
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou, mentioned Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 8
Kudos: 583





	Read The Receipt

If they had been in any restaurant except for Onigiri Miya, Hinata would have been afraid that they would be kicked out, with the amount of noise that their group was making.

Although, perhaps being in Onigiri Miya wouldn’t even preclude that: There had been no sign of Osamu all evening, and Hinata could see some of the servers glaring at them from over by the entrance.

“Order, order!”, Adriah called, slamming his fist down on the table, before turning to his right to apologize to their wincing captain.

Wiping the tears from his eyes and attempting to control his laughter, Hinata briefly leaned against Bokuto’s shoulder, feeling how it shook beneath his jaw.

“All I’m sayin' is-”, Atsumu began, pausing and dodging Sakusa’s hand where he was trying to place it over Atsumu’s mouth. “Stop that. All I’m saying is, I left 'Omi alone in that room with the bug spray-”

“You and Inunaki locked me in there-”

“Hey!” Inunaki leaped up from his seat, at the far end of the table. “Don’t you go accusing me now, it was all Atsumu-”

Atsumu jabbed his finger at the libero. “Ya filthy fucking liar!”

Meian cautioned; “Atsumu, this is a family-”

“-establishment, yeah, I know.” He rolled his eyes at his captain. “Anyway-”

“And I saw you with the key to the storage room”, Meian continued, an expression on his face that was as unimpressed as his tone.

“Captain, are you entering as a witness into this debate?”, Adriah asked, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together on the table.

“I-”

Waggling his eyebrows, Inunaki cut across him. “Are you a witness for the defense or the prosecution?”

Sakusa snorted. “Which one am I?”

Hinata couldn't keep the amused look from his face as his head bounced from one side to the other, watching the ongoing chaos.

“Ooh!” Bokuto leaned forward. “Can Keiji and Hinata and I be witnesses, too?” He gestured to the two on either side of him, and Hinata leaned forward to look at Akaashi; the only non-team member at the table, who Bokuto had invited along that evening. Nobody had complained: They all liked Akaashi, and especially how happy Bokuto was when he was around. Besides, they couldn't fault him for wanting to spend time with his husband when he had made the journey to see him.

“Koutarou, we weren’t even there”, Akaashi pointed out, only Atsumu’s shouting largely drowned him out.

“Yes! Yes, Bokkun, ya can be my witness!”

Sakusa raised an arm to bar Atsumu from leaning any further forward across the table: His chest was already nearly in his food. “Atsumu, please calm down, people are staring.”

“Sakusa in the library with the candlestick!”, Bokuto cried.

“You mean, in the storage closet with the bug spray”, clarified Inunaki.

Barnes groaned; “I don’t understand what’s happening…”

Adriah said, “Really, Sakusa, it’s quite impressive that you managed to knock all of that over-”

With all the authority of his captain position in his voice, Meian snapped; “All of you, be quiet!”

Silence fell over the group. There were a few glances exchanged and throats cleared, however largely the team were keeping their heads down and continuing to tear into what was left of the food.

Quietly, as he took the last few bites of his meal, Hinata murmured; “I think it’s Meian's court now.”

Across and a couple of seats along, Atsumu made eye contact with him and then started to snicker into his hand. Sakusa elbowed him, but he continued snickering until someone in a dark uniform walked behind him and lifted the still quarter-full plate that was in front of him into the air.

“Oi!”, the setter protested, pivoting in his seat.

Osamu, standing behind him, flashed his brother a bright smile before setting his plate back down.

“All done with yer meal?”, he asked in a cheerily false tone.

“Well, I don’t feel like eating now, after seeing yer face.” Atsumu turned to the others with fear in his eyes, like a hunter who realizes he’s been surrounded by a pack of famished wolves. “And before ya say it, yes, I know we have the same face.”

Osamu barked a single laugh, and his brother whirled back toward him.

“You’ve been hiding from us in the kitchen all night”, Atsumu accused.

Osamu shook his head. “I do have other customers to feed, ya know.” Osamu removed his cap and rubbed at his forehead with the back of one hand, resting the other on the back of Atsumu’s chair to lean over his brother.

Atsumu jabbed him in the side. “Ya wouldn’t have treated Kita like this.”

“Nah”, Osamu agreed with a smirk. Looking away from his twin, his gaze traveled further down the table. “Nice game tonight, Inunaki.”

Inunaki dipped his head with a modest grin, and Adriah patted him on the back.

“And, hey, Akaashi, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yes.” Akaashi nodded. “I was disappointed not to see you at the game.”

Bokuto stage-whispered; “He sulked the whole way here because he missed your onigiri.”

“Sorry, we’ve just been so rushed, I didn’t get the chance to head down there today.” Osamu shrugged, still smiling. “Next time, though.”

“And about that new store in Tokyo-”, Akaashi began.

Osamu chuckled, sweeping his arms wide as he looked about the rest of the table. “So, does anybody want any desserts?”

After much head shaking, Meian raised his hands.

“I think we’re done here, thank you, Osamu. If we could just have the bill?”

As though waiting for those words, Osamu removed a small square of paper from his pocket.

And leaned over to slam the paper down on the table in front of Sakusa. “You’re paying tonight.”

“What?”, Atsumu squawked, his eyebrows traveling further up his forehead. “Why?”

“He knows why.”

To Hinata’s bewilderment, Sakusa’s face was impassive. Rather than arguing, he simply pulled his wallet out.

“It’s alright, Sakusa”, Akaashi said. His expression was as confused as Hinata felt. “We can split it.”

“Miya-Sam is just joking, right Miya-Sam?”, Bokuto asked. He was fidgeting nervously with a napkin.

Osamu merely gave him a grim look in response.

Sakusa shook his head and handed his card over to Osamu, who put it into the small machine attached to his hip and handed it over. A moment later, he handed it back, along with the receipt.

Before walking away, he tipped his cap at Sakusa. “Pleasure doing business with ya.”

A few minutes later, once coats had been collected and Inunaki’s phone- which he had left on his seat somehow- had been found, they stepped out into the darkness. The air had grown crisp and cool in the time that they sat in the warmth of the restaurant to eat.

As usual, Meian and most of the others went left, heading towards the parking lot. In normal circumstances Hinata would have joined them: Adriah often dropped him off on his way home. Tonight, however, he walked with Bokuto, Akaashi, Atsumu, and Sakusa, since Bokuto had invited him to stay with him and Akaashi for the rest of the evening. The plan was to do a video call with Kuroo and Kenma, who were both coincidentally in Tokyo, provided they were still awake by the time they got back.

“I wonder what all that was about with the cheque”, Akaashi murmured under his breath, the words coming out in a foggy billow that etched itself into the night air.

Hinata shot him a panicked glance; however, Sakusa was, as usual, marching swiftly ahead with his hands in his pockets, too far to have heard. Atsumu, darting to keep up at his side, kept glancing anxiously back over his shoulder at them.

“Not a clue.” Bokuto shook his head. “That was odd, though.”

It was odd, Hinata thought. He wondered why Osamu would do that to Sakusa. Osamu had never seemed particularly bothered when Sakusa and Atsumu first began dating; if anything, he had always asked Sakusa for embarrassing stories about his brother. It seemed strange that he should take issue with their relationship now.

“Hey, 'Omi”, Hinata called out loud, cupping his mouth with his hands since subtlety was not something that he knew very much about, “does Osamu have something against you?”

Sakusa merely shrugged, not turning around, just a single roll of his broad shoulders barely visible under his thick coat. “Not really. He wanted me to pay, so I paid.”

Bokuto and Hinata exchanged glances. “Huh.”

“Weird”, Akaashi remarked.

“Exactly what I was thinking”, said Bokuto.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then, simultaneously, to Hinata.

It startled him so much that he almost tripped over on the sidewalk, and he hobbled along with one hand on Bokuto’s shoulder for the next ten minutes, praying that if he iced his twisted ankle he would be good for the game the next day.

*

Luckily, in spite of his small injury and the lack of sleep- due to Kenma and Kuroo’s insistence that the five of them play some game that Kenma was interested in and before they knew it, it was long past midnight- Hinata woke up with no obvious side effects.

After bidding Akaashi farewell, he and Bokuto made their way to the arena, and swiftly changed in preparation for practice.

“Komi is in a new play and they’re coming here on tour this weekend”, Bokuto was saying as Hinata rifled about in his locker. “It lines up perfectly because it means Keiji and I can go while he’s visiting. Did you want tickets?”

Hinata paused and then shook his head as he closed his locker door. “Ah, sorry, some of my friends were planning to come to visit this weekend.” Yachi, Yamaguchi and Kageyama would all be there. Tsukishima hadn’t managed to get out of practice, sadly. But, since Kageyama had missed their last meeting, and Hinata had missed a whole bunch before while he was away, they thought they might as well take advantage of the one day Hinata and Kageyama both had free.

“Why don’t they come, too? Konoha and some of our other old friends are going?” At the sight of Atsumu approaching them, Bokuto grinned. “Hey, 'Tsum 'Tsum, want to come watch a play this weekend?”

Atsumu ignored him, sinking into the seat beside Hinata and resting his chin in his hands. “Omi's hiding something and I don’t like it.”

Hinata cocked his head, surprised. “What makes you think that?”

“I was trying to find out what was going on yesterday.” Ah. Hinata had nearly forgotten about what had transpired during their meal. “Ya know, if he and 'Samu are mad at each other or something, I think I should know why, right? But neither of them will tell me.”

Bokuto scratched the back of his head with one hand. “Yeah, Keiji said he thought it was really strange, too.”

“Did you ask Osamu?”, Hinata questioned. Sakusa could be kind of reserved, he knew, when something was bothering him, but it was unlike Osamu not to explain himself.

Atsumu nodded. “Dead end. He just told me I was imagining things, but that could mean anything. 'Samu would rather gnaw off his own right arm than admit a secret to me, especially if he knew it was something that was bugging me.”

“Hmm.” He frowned. He knew the twins wound each other up about a lot of things, but Osamu was normally quite forthcoming if Atsumu- or any of Atsumu’s friends- had upset him. Forthcoming as in wouldn’t stop complaining about it.

“It’s really freaking me out”, Atsumu admitted. He glanced over his shoulder, as though afraid Sakusa would be listening in. Hinata had seen him speaking with Meian and Barnes outside earlier but hadn’t seen him in the twenty minute or so since, so it was a valid concern. Sakusa, despite his stature, was in the habit of appearing silently behind people and scaring the life out of them.

Bokuto puffed up his chest. “Don’t worry: We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“We will! Oh, it’s like in the court again, except we’re the detectives!”, Hinata cried, recalling some of the lighter moments from their meal.

“Exactly!”

They grinned at each other, only Hinata noticed that the look Atsumu was giving them did not share the same excitement. In fact, he had despair written all over his face.

Tremulously, he asked; “What exactly are the two of ya thinking?”

*

The sound of balls rhythmically smacking the floor during warmups rang out all around Hinata, the vibrations shaking right down to his chest. It was something that he was both not entirely used to- after all, in Brazil they had largely played on the sand and the only noise had been muffled thumps, so unlike the squeaky high-pitched noises of the gym- and something that was deeply comforting, dredging up half-forgotten memories of hundreds of practices back in high school.

He was just leaning forward to stretch his calves and test his ankle to ensure that he really was good to go when he saw that Atsumu was sidling closer and closer toward him. Hinata gave him a curious glance, yet Atsumu only shot him a wide-eyed look rather than speaking.

It was only when he was essentially leaning over Hinata that Atsumu whispered, his gaze trained on something in the distance; “Omi said he’s going out with Komori for dinner tonight.”

“Oh!”, Bokuto cried, and both Atsumu and Hinata jumped. Hinata hadn’t realized that Bokuto had been standing just behind him. “We should follow him!”

Atsumu sighed and rocked back on his heels, resting his hands on his hips in a way that was incredibly familiar. “No, that won’t work.” He was frowning. “I swear that’s something that ya only see in movies, and even then they always get caught.”

Hinata continued with his stretches, twisting to his right as he puzzled over his friend’s words. As he did so, he followed Atsumu’s line of sight and saw that he was glaring over at where Sakusa was speaking to Komori.

That in itself wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary: Sakusa often went to speak to his cousin whenever they had games against EJP Raijin. Komori was smiling and nodding as he listened to whatever Sakusa was saying to him and, as Hinata watched, Suna moved to join them, glancing over to where Hinata and the others stood. He swiftly looked away.

“Well, maybe we should brainstorm while we’re on the bus later”, Hinata suggested as he turned back to face Atsumu, and then he paused. “You both have friends who play for Raijin, right? Maybe Komori has said something to one of them.”

Atsumu made a face. “I doubt it.”

“We can ask, though!”, Bokuto said. “I’ll ask Washio after the game. He’s bound to know something. And, as his former captain, of course, he’ll tell me.”

*

“Komori hasn’t told me anything. And even if he had, I wouldn’t tell you.” Washio frowned and shook his head. He had drawn himself up to his full gargantuan height as he spoke, arms folded across his chest. “It’s his family business.”

“Aww, come on, Washio”, Bokuto wheedled, pouting at his former teammate.

“Sorry, Bokuto, but I already said. I don’t know anything.”

Suna came to lean against the lockers by Washio’s side. “I might know something.” He smirked at them, and Hinata was momentarily thrown back into his high school sneakers, trembling as he stared down Suna’s blocks. “But it’s Osamu and Sakusa’s secret, not mine, so I can’t tell you.”

Atsumu raised an eyebrow. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t ya?”

“Very much.”

“Traitor. After we went all through high school together.”

“Did we?” Suna tilted his head, still smiling. “Ah, suddenly my memory doesn’t seem to be working so well.”

Atsumu still seemed annoyed, Hinata thought, yet he could see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He had never really understood Atsumu and Suna’s friendship- they largely seemed to antagonize each other, more than anything else- although they paradoxically seemed to maliciously enjoy the antagonism. And, ever since Suna had moved in with Osamu, things had only gotten worse.

“Don’t bring up memories”, Atsumu was saying, “ya might summon Kita.”

Suna merely tipped his head back and laughed.

After a moment, he said; “Really, though. It’s nothing to worry about, Atsumu.” With that, he tucked his chin into his jacket and walked away, Washio following him. Over his shoulder, he called; “See you for family dinner next weekend?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Glancing back, Suna threatened; “I’ll tell your mother you didn't want to come. She loves me, you know that.”

Atsumu scowled. “I’ll be there.”

*

An old black and white movie played on the TV for all of about five seconds, before it was briefly replaced by static; then, some melodramatic romance took over the screen.

Bokuto, holding the remote, sighed, and pressed the next button, tuning into what appeared to be some kind of horror or thriller, if the ominous music was anything to go by. He sighed again. Hinata knew he had to be frustrated: He and Akaashi had little time together as it was, and having to spend one of the few nights they had to share away with the team had to be grating on his nerves a little.

Hinata was slumped on his own bed, across from Bokuto’s in the bland cream hotel room. At the end of the bed, down by his feet, Atsumu perched, leaning back on his hands. The three of them had retired there following their unsuccessful attempt at gathering information, still exhausted from the game, and had been speaking about everything and nothing and anything in between.

As he flipped between the channels on the TV, Bokuto said; “So I was having dinner with Yukie the other week after the game, and this reporter saw us and asked if she was my sister, and out of habit I said; ‘No, she’s my manager’. I totally forgot that she’s not anymore. I felt like saying, actually, she’s been demoted to friend.”

“Demoted?” Atsumu frowned across the room at him. “Bokuto, in what world is a manager a step up from a friend?”

Bokuto rolled over to lie face-down on the bed, muttering into his pillow; “Well, you Inarizaki people wouldn’t get it because your weird team didn’t have managers.”

“Didn’t need one, we had Kita.”

“Hey”, Hinata nudged Atsumu with his foot and the two of them shared a grin, “when I ask Kageyama out I’ll ask him to be my manager.”

Atsumu gave a short, sharp burst of laughter, throwing his head back. “Sorry, but Tobio is dense as fuck, he’ll just give ya that annoyed look he gets when he’s confused.”

“Okay, can we let go of my slip of the tongue now?”, Bokuto mumbled, before rolling onto his back to peer over at them. “When are you asking him, Hinata? Before he goes to Italy, right?”

Hinata hummed. He hadn’t given it much thought, honestly. It had always felt like something that would work itself out, in the end. It always did between the two of them, one way or another. “Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence as Bokuto finally seemed to settle on a program to watch: Some game show involving lots of bright lights and even brighter smiles from the contestants.

Although Hinata tried to pay attention, he was distracted by Atsumu’s constant fidgeting, just within his field of vision. He attempted to nudge his friend with his foot again to get him to stop, only kicked a little too hard, and Atsumu shot him a wounded look that had him feeling guilty. Something was clearly bothering his teammate.

Eventually, Atsumu stood up, fists clenched.

“I’m going to check the room for clues to why 'Omi is being weird. Come with me?”

Bokuto gaped up at him. “We can’t!”

“Why not? He’s the one keeping secrets.”

“He won’t like us going in his room”, Hinata hissed. “Remember how he freaked out at Bokuto that one time?”

He doubted anybody on the team could have forgotten. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bokuto wincing.

Atsumu rolled his eyes, his face illuminated blue in the light from the TV. “That was when he first joined the team, and you literally just walked in and scared him while he was in the shower. I’m rooming with him so it won’t be weird that I’ve invited you guys in there.” He smirked a little. "Besides, I'm his boyfriend. He can't get mad at me for being in our room."

They made their way across the hall. As ever, Sakusa and Atsumu’s room was organized chaos: There were a lot of items in there, mostly Sakusa’s ‘emergency supplies’. Yet they were all arranged in a way that was familiar to Hinata from the times he had roomed with Sakusa in the past.

Hinata paused when they were stood in the room with the door firmly closed behind them, and saw that the others were having the same hesitancies. Where should they begin?

“Hmm”, Atsumu hummed to himself, as though answering an unspoken question. A moment later, he made his way over to where Sakusa’s bag was tucked down by the side of his bed and began to poke through it.

Hinata and Bokuto exchanged a glance, and then Hinata was sliding open the wardrobe. The only thing hanging there were a couple of spare shirts and pants, evenly spaced on hangers. He frowned.

“Bokuto, what are you doing?!” Hinata glanced over his shoulder in time to spot Bokuto jumping guiltily away from a bag. Atsumu, still crouched on the floor by the bed, was glaring up at him. “That’s my bag. Go check the drawers in the desk or something.”

Bokuto did as he was told, scampering over to the other side of the room. Well, as much as a 190cm professional athlete could scurry.

Kneeling, Hinata looked in the drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe: Both empty.

“Hey.”

Bokuto’s short exclamation had his teammates moving to hover by his side.

He was standing in front of the desk. One of the drawers- the bottom one- was open. In Bokuto’s hand was a small envelope and from it, he withdrew a tiny piece of paper.

It was a receipt.

Before he could read it, Hinata noticed that a lot of the print had been obscured by something that someone had written on the back: They had pressed the pen so hard the ink had nearly torn through the paper.

Bokuto flipped it over and held it toward Atsumu for inspection.

“'Samu… Osamu wrote that”, Atsumu said slowly. His face was drawn down in a deep frown. “That’s his writing.”

It must have been the receipt from the restaurant, or possibly the bill, since Osamu wouldn't have had the time to write on the receipt. Hinata crowded in on Bokuto’s other side to read what it said.

Scrawled on the slip of paper were the words: _In the desk, the third drawer down. The key is under the plant pot._

“Okay.” Hinata took a deep breath before admitting; “Something strange is definitely going on.”

“'Samu keeps his spare key under the plant pot…”, Atsumu murmured. There was a faraway, almost dimly panicked look in his eyes. “I definitely need to talk to my brother again…”

Hinata reached out a hand to Atsumu; he wasn’t sure whether it was to reassure or console him for some imagined slight, yet he felt that it was what Atsumu probably needed just then.

Except, at that moment, familiar footsteps sounded along the corridor. The trio locked eyes, drawing in simultaneous sharp breaths, and then they rushed to put everything back as they had found it.

When Sakusa walked in, Atsumu was lounging on his bed. Hinata and Bokuto sat on the floor in front of him with their legs crossed. All three of them were appeared to be staring at the wall opposite, their breathing heavy.

Sakusa scowled as he removed his jacket, hanging it over the rack on the back of the door. “What are you guys doing?”

Hinata let out his breath in a low sigh. To his left, he could see that Bokuto’s mouth was already working to come up with a predictably awful lie, so he leaned forward.

“We- were just leaving.”

Dragging Bokuto out into the hallway, Hinata glanced back over his shoulder. The last thing he saw as the door swung closed behind them was Atsumu staring up at Sakusa, his face somewhat guilty yet petulant.

*

When Atsumu didn’t immediately seek Hinata out the next morning, he felt a tight knot growing in his stomach with the sense that something was wrong. He scoured the gym cafeteria, and it took him a moment to spot the setter.

He was sitting at a table alone, eating quietly. Strange.

He didn’t look up when Hinata approached him. Even stranger.

“Hey”, Hinata began as he came to a halt beside Atsumu, “did you find anything out from 'Omi last night? About the note?”

Atsumu was still staring down at his bowl of cereal. When Hinata prodded his arm with one finger, he glanced up, and answered, “Ah- yes, it’s fine.”

And then, without saying anything else, his eyes drifted back down to the bowl. Hinata could have sworn he was almost smiling.

Leaning forward and dropping his voice, Hinata asked; “Well? What was it?”

“Oh, nothing, it was nothing.” Atsumu waved one hand, almost sending his cereal flying. His face was bright red. Inunaki and Adriah, at the next table, were staring at them.

Hinata decided it was time to retreat. He made his way across to Bokuto, sitting by himself in one corner as he tucked into his breakfast.

As he dropped into the seat across from Bokuto, he whispered; “They’ve got Atsumu.”

Glancing furtively back in the direction he had come from, he saw their blond friend was still staring at his cereal with a dopey look on his face. 

Bokuto paused in his eating and raised one eyebrow. “Huh? What do you mean? Who’s got him?”

“Sakusa and Osamu. He said he found out what the note meant.”

“So what is it, then?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me.” Hinata glanced down at his plate. He didn’t really feel much like eating, but he knew that practice was likely going to be intense with all of the upcoming games they were facing, so he began to stuff some vegetables into his mouth.

“It was in Miya-Sam’s writing, right?” Bokuto was pondering, staring over to where Atsumu still sat, apparently unaware of anything going on around him. Meian had joined him now, and Hinata watched him jump once more when Meian began speaking to him. “Maybe there’s something at his house?”

“Hm. Maybe we should ask Suna again, and tell him Atsumu knows now, too. He might tell us.” It was a small chance, Hinata knew, yet it was the only option he could think of.

*

Whatever reaction he had been expecting from Suna- derision, Hinata thought, mostly derision- it was not for Suna to laugh hysterically down the phone at them once Bokuto explained that he had gotten his details from Washio and their reason for calling.

Aware that he was whining yet unable to stop, Hinata cried; “Suna, please stop laughing at us.”

“I’m sorry”, Suna chuckled, and Hinata could picture him wiping a tear from one eye, “but this is funny.”

“Suna, we’re worried about them!”, Bokuto protested, leaning in toward where Hinata had his phone aloft and on speaker.

Suna laughed even harder for a moment, before calming down and making a soft noise that sounded like a snort.

“Look, if you’re that desperate for answers, come over to mine and Osamu’s place tomorrow while he’s at work during the afternoon. I’ll be there, then; I have an off day. I won’t be able to tell you anything since Osamu asked me not to tell, so… Well, you can draw your own conclusions.”

*

Akaashi came with them when they bundled on the train to Osamu’s house and he and Bokuto sat side by side, forcing Hinata to sit alone across the aisle.

Hinata had never been there before. Bokuto had, once, when he first started playing for the Black Jackals. When he had opened his restaurant, Osamu had thrown a party for a bunch of his old friends and had apparently encouraged Atsumu to invite a few of his teammates along as well. Suna had just moved in a few months back, although Osamu was still the one who used it most of the time while Suna was traveling with his team.

He was surprised to find that Osamu and Suna lived out in the countryside: If anything, he would have thought Osamu preferred the city life. Admittedly, Hinata may have garnered that impression through Atsumu, so he should have known it wasn’t a valid one.

“We like to relax here when we have the time”, Suna explained simply when Hinata asked, having opened the door of his residence and stepped aside to allow them in. He didn’t elaborate further.

“Do you actually know what’s going on?”, Hinata prompted as he toed his shoes off, finding the silence slightly unnerving. “Are Osamu and Omi fighting? Why didn’t Atsumu tell us what was going on?”

“I can’t tell you that, it’s their… Thing.” Suna shrugged. “But feel free to check the house. Go crazy.”

Bokuto tilted his head, puzzled. “Are you just wasting our time?”

Suna didn’t answer, merely beckoned them further into the house.

*

“Well, that was a waste of time”, Akaashi said, as they sat on the train back to Osaka. “But at least I got these.” He indicated the already half-eaten tray of onigiri on his lap.

“Hm.” Bokuto took a bite of the one he had pilfered when they sat down. “It was nice of Suna to offer.”

“It was the least he could do after calling us there for nothing.” Akaashi leaned across the aisle. “Hinata, would you like one?”

Pulled out of his thoughts, Hinata smiled and nodded. “Yes, please!

He took one from the tray as Akaashi carefully held it out to him, and took a bite. It tasted good, and he let out a small humming noise. If there had been anyone else close to him, he might have been embarrassed, but the train was half-empty, and Bokuto and Akaashi were the only ones close enough to have heard.

He watched out of the window as the rural hills gave way to urban landscapes once more.

“I think maybe it’s time to give up on this mystery”, Akaashi said, once he had finished another onigiri. “It’s probably something private. A family thing.”

“What?” Bokuto frowned at his husband. “We can’t give up now!”

“We can’t!”, echoed Hinata.

“We searched the whole house from top to bottom and found nothing.”

“What if we missed a desk?” Akaashi gave Hinata a look that indicated that was unlikely. They had checked the whole house twice, if not three times, and Suna told them himself that the desk in the lounge was the only one they had.

“Maybe they’re involved in something shady”, Bokuto speculated. “You know, like the mafia.”

“Don’t be ridiculous”, said Akaashi. A moment later, his eyes went wide behind the lenses of his glasses. “You don’t think they are, right?”

Hinata felt his heart clench in fear. He didn’t think it was likely, but you always heard of that kind of thing: Professional athletes, getting involved with gambling rings and shady characters. Had one of their friends perhaps made a mistake and was now being sucked further into a life of crime or being forced to cover it up?

“Hmm.” Bokuto seemed to consider his own hypothesis, chewing slowly. “Don’t think so. I can’t see either of them being involved in something like that.” He paused again, swallowing. “Well, maybe 'Omi.”

Akaashi and Hinata swapped a wide-eyed glance and sank back into their seats while the train rolled on into the darkness.

*

It wasn't particularly surprising for Hinata and Bokuto to run into Atsumu and Sakusa at the gym: Their coach encouraged them to take advantage of all of the workout facilities after all, especially on an off day. In the evenings there would often be a small group of them meeting up.

What was surprising was the good mood that they each seemed to be in. When Atsumu announced with an eerily upbeat grin that he would have to bounce early, as he was going out to dinner with Osamu and Suna and some of their old friends, Bokuto and Hinata exchanged glances. This was their opportunity.

It was about four minutes after Atsumu left the building that they cornered Sakusa by the toilets.

Hinata had been wanting to speak to Sakusa for a while: It was rare that they went so long without a conversation. Almost as though he had been avoiding them. Sakusa did tend to fade into the background in team meetings and sometimes kept to himself, but this had felt different. Even on the days that he was somewhat quieter and withdrawn he would still sometimes seek the others out for conversation. His recent silence seemed deliberate, almost shifty. 

Leaning into their teammate’s personal space- and then hurriedly backing out of it again at the look Sakusa gave him- Bokuto stated, his tone somber; “Sakusa, we need to talk to you.”

Hinata nodded. “We do.”

“What about?”, Sakusa asked. His tone was too light, Hinata thought, for him not to be playing dumb.

“Dinner the other night!”, he burst out.

Sakusa arched an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Well, Osamu told you to pay-”

“Yes, and then there was the note-”, Bokuto cut in.

“And Atsumu said you were acting weird, but there was nothing-”

“-Nothing at the house.”

Seeing a look of genuine bewilderment flashing across Sakusa’s face, Hinata held out a hand to stop Bokuto, touching his arm. Yes, they both wanted to know what was going on, but it was just occurring to him now that bombarding Sakusa with questions wasn’t the way to go about finding out.

Softly, he said; “You don’t have to tell us everything, but we want to make sure that you and Atsumu are okay.”

“And we also really, really want to know what that writing on the receipt meant”, added Bokuto.

Sakusa stared at them for a long time without speaking. His dark eyes gave nothing away.

And then he asked, his voice almost wondering; “Do you really care that much?”

“Yes!”, Hinata nearly shouted, trying to emphasize the feeling in his voice.

“Is everything okay?” Bokuto was moving closer again. “If something’s wrong, 'Omi, we can help.”

Sakusa simply stared for a moment longer.

Then he turned on his heels and walked into the locker room.

Hinata and Bokuto swapped looks before following him.

When they walked into the room, Sakusa was standing over his bag. As they watched, he produced the small white envelope that they had seen previously, and out of it, he took the small slip of paper, which he held out to them.

Hesitantly, Hinata took it. He and Bokuto flipped it to stare at the writing, then back up at Sakusa.

Hinata cocked his head. “Huh?”

“We saw it already”, Bokuto admitted. “What does it mean?”

Sakusa rolled his eyes. “Did you even check what the receipt was for?”

The two of them stared blankly up at him.

“Our- our food?”, Hinata asked uncertainly. What else would it have been for?

Sakusa had that look on his face that he sometimes got when Hinata knew he was wondering how he got stuck with such idiots.

Without saying a word, he reached out and flipped the receipt over. Neither Bokuto nor Hinata made a move to stop him.

They stared at the writing on the paper for a few seconds as understanding dawned on them.

And, at the same time, they gave a collective sigh.

“Oooohhhh.”

*

Hinata waited for Bokuto to get up the next morning before they raced to the gym to bombard Atsumu with questions.

“You thought we’d joined the mafia?!”, Atsumu laughed, after hearing the second half of the story that he had missed out on.

“Well, it sounded like a code for something!”, Hinata protested loudly, ignoring the looks some of the training staff were throwing in their direction. Any other time, he would have felt bad. Now, he was too excited to slow down or quiet down.  
  


Bokuto nodded enthusiastically at his side. “Yeah! Real spy stuff!”

Atsumu laughed so hard he gripped at his sides.

“To be fair to them, though, 'Omi”, Atsumu turned to the man standing next to him, “you didn’t have to get my brother to hide it for ya.”

“If it had been in my place, you would have found it somehow”, Sakusa pointed out.

“You’re just paranoid. I don’t go through your things for fun.”

Sakusa didn’t appear convinced. Atsumu elbowed him, and he scowled.

“I was going to take you out and ask you properly, but you all had to ruin it, didn’t you?”

“Technically my brother ruined it.” Atsumu had a glint in his eye that made Hinata glad he wasn’t Osamu. "Although the ring is nice. Shouyou, Bokkun, I'll show you guys later."

“Speaking of your brother, remind me to thank him. I’m sure he’ll bring it up during his best man speech or something.” Even though Sakusa sounded annoyed, Hinata couldn’t help the suspicion that the look in his eyes was somewhat relieved and amused; he was probably glad the secret was finally out. Although, as he had pointed out the evening before, he had thought they had already figured it out from the receipt for the ring, and were simply tactfully not bringing it up. 

“Oh no.” Atsumu gave a bitter laugh and made a giant ‘x’ with his arms. “He’s not being my best man.”

Sakusa raised one eyebrow at him. “So then, who is?”

“Shouyou?”, Atsumu asked. When Hinata pretended to look away, he asked; “Bokkun?”

Hinata and Bokuto’s eyes met as they looked away from Atsumu, and they shared a grin.

“You can borrow Komori if you’d like?”, Sakusa suggested.

Atsumu snorted. “And who would that leave you with?”

Just for the sake of annoying Atsumu, Hinata burst out; “Ooh, I’d be your best man, 'Omi!”

“Or me!”, cried Bokuto. “Pick me!”

Dragging one hand across his face, Atsumu muttered; “Traitors. The lot of ya. Traitors.”

“Don’t be sad, Atsumu”, Sakusa consoled, his voice mockingly sweet. “If we tell the rest of the guys someone may volunteer.”

“You can have Inunaki, maybe?” The fact that Bokuto’s suggestion was so earnest nearly set Hinata off giggling. He bit his lip to hold it in.

Atsumu stared between the other three for a moment, before sighing and crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess 'Samu will have to do." He turned. "Shouyou, if ya like ya can bring Tobio."

“Yes! Can I hold the flowers?”, Hinata asked and, a split second later, Bokuto chorused; “Can I carry the rings?”

At the same time, Atsumu and Sakusa replied, firmly; “No.”

Hinata couldn’t help himself. He burst into peels of laughter.

Meanwhile, Bokuto began to launch into a pitch as to why he should be allowed to hold the rings for them. Hinata made eye contact with Sakusa, who quirked an eyebrow. How could Hinata have ever thought that he was involved in anything shady?

When Bokuto argued that he and Akaashi had gotten married with no hiccups on the big day, Atsumu all but squawked, indignant; “Only because Kenma had the rings!”

For whatever reason, that caused Sakusa to break too, and when he caught Hinata’s eye the two of them were doubled over in gales of laughter, while Atsumu and Bokuto watched with bemused expressions. A few seconds later, they too had descended into hysterics.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not completely happy with this tbh so may go over it at some point in the coming weeks: Having said that, for now, I hope anyone reading this enjoyed it!


End file.
